Will Immigration Reform Affect the Economic Competitiveness of Labor-Intensive Crops

摘要

The report identifies U.S. producers of labor-intensive crops most likely to be exposed to more competition if immigration reform increases their labor costs. Import market share data indicate that U.S. producers dominated the 1980-88 consumer market for most of the fruits and vegetables examined. However, five commodities including frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower, fresh asparagus, fresh tomatoes and fresh grapes, experience stiff competition from non-U.S. producers. Producers of these commodities are probably most vulnerable if competition intensifies, since foreign producers are already making inroads into these markets.